Rona Edwards

Rona Edwards Productions/Edwards Skerbelis Entertainment
Author, Filmmaker, Producer, Screenwriter, Script Consultant, Singer, Stage Director, Transmedia Producer, Actor, Voice Artist and Voice Actor

Los Angeles, California

Member Since:
October 2014

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> 2 weeks ago

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About Rona

A graduate of California Institute of the Arts, RONA EDWARDS became Vice President of Creative Affairs for multiple Emmy-winner John Larroquette (Night Court), Academy-Award Winner Michael Phillips Productions (The Sting, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Taxi Driver) and Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Producer Fern Field (Monk, Heartsounds) before she was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of independent producing. As a Producer, she Co-Produced and/or Executive Produced One Special Victory (NBC) starring John Larroquette, The Companion (USA/SyFi CHANNEL) directed by Gary Fleder, I Know What You Did (ABC) starring Rosanna Arquette, Out Of Sync (VH1) starring Gail O’Grady, and Der Morder Meiner Mutter (Sat.1/Studio Hamburg) for German television. She set up Matchmakers, a feature at Warner Bros. based upon an article she found and the movie, Blind Trust, which aired on Lifetime television. She produced a series of movies based upon a book series she optioned, subtitled “Crimes of Fashion,” by Ellen Byerrum. The first two books, Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover, were aired on the Lifetime Movie Network. With Canadian company, Awesometown Entertainment, she is producing an animated feature film based on The Birbal Tales, with Toonz Media - and is currently developing several books, screenplays and true-life stories into feature films and television projects.

In addition, she is also working on a number of documentaries including one about Military Nurses, which will examine war through the POV of nurses who were there healing the wounded. She produced Unforgettable, written and directed by Eric Williams (Mad City, Out Of Sync), which tells the story of a year in the life of his brother (deemed “the human google” by Good Morning America) who has what is called hyperthymesia– the autobiographical ability to recall every day of his life. She executive produced the awarding-winning documentary, Selling Sex In Heaven aka Hope in Heaven, which won the Beyond Borders award for documentary film, the juror’s award at the Big Bear Film Festival, and aired on the CBC and is Executive Producer on the follow up documentary, Selling Sex, which follows sex workers in America. Edwards has had projects made and/or in development with many of the major networks and studios including a script deal at ABC, movies at CBS, ABC, NBC, Hearst Entertainment, VH1, HBO, Phoenix Pictures, Edward R. Pressman, Revelation, Lifetime, Motor City Films, Warner Bros., Alan Landsberg Productions, The David Wolper Organization, Lifetime, Incendo Media, All Girl Productions and Wilshire Court, to name a few.

She has served as a film consultant and story editor for numerous film commissions and production companies worldwide including Film Victoria, Screen Queensland, Stewart-Hall Productions, Enjoy Entertainment in Australia and Pilgrim Pictures in Singapore as well as for individual writers and filmmakers.

With Monika Skerbelis, a former VP at Universal Pictures, she has taught “Introduction to Feature Film Development” at UCLA Extension (both on campus and online) for more than ten years and “Story Development Process” at Riverside Community College’s Open Campus online.

Together, Edwards & Skerbelis wrote the critically acclaimed book," I Liked It, Didn’t Love It (Screenplay Development From The Inside Out)," which is now available in its 3rd edition online and available at bookstores everywhere. It is considered the quintessential book on the Hollywood development process: who all the players are (Studio & Network execs, Production Company execs, Agents/Managers, story depts), how they fit together, how to find and pitch ideas, give and receive notes, Structures and Formats in Television and its history, etc. A second book, published by Michael Wiese Publishing (MWP) and titled, "The Complete Filmmakers Guide to Film Festivals (An all access pass to launching your film on the festival circuit)," is a soup-to-nuts book on all you need to know but were afraid to ask about film festivals. A second edition will be out in January 2022. Both books are used as textbooks at colleges and universities worldwide. Edwards and Skerbelis are also the founders of ESE Film Workshops Online, a series of global online classes that teach the ins and outs of the film industry . Classes include: Creating a Production Company, Maneuvering Film Festivals, Screenplay Development from the Inside Out, Finding & Developing New Ideas, Producing the Short Documentary, Writing the One-Hour Spec, with more classes being added every year. Some of the classes can be found on the Script University website.

A contributing writer to The Beachwood Voice for seven years, Edwards was also the newspaper’s restaurant reviewer and feature writer. She then became a lifestyle columnist for the Los Feliz Ledger. Currently, she is a contributing writer to Produced By magazine, the official magazine of the Producers Guild of America and has written music reviews for FAME (The Folk Acoustic Music Exchange) online. In addition, she has written a column, “Rona’s Reel Take,” for the New York quarterly newspaper, The Neworld Review, in which she rants and raves about the film business. She was also senior editor at Morton Books and currently has her column in Script magazine.

Edwards has been interviewed in a number of newspapers, and on television and radio shows including USA Today, On the Page, YourHollywoodPro, Connie Martinson On Books, Digital Production Buzz, Your Hollywood Pro, Reel Ladies, the Gregory Mantell Show, Murder Must Air, sponsored by the Mystery Writers or America, 938Live’s The Living Room in Singapore, and WWJ 950AM in Detroit. She has been a guest lecturer and/or panelist at the Bangkok International Film Festival, the United Nations Women’s Film Festival, University Film and Video Association (UFVA), Screenwriters Network, Palm Springs Women In Film, the Margaret Perry Filmmaking Seminar in Halifax, Nova Scotia, The California Writer’s Club in Monterey, California, Palm Springs International ShortsFest, Mendocino Film Festival, San Diego Film Festival, Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, California, Moondance Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado, Cinewomen, Women in Film, The Mystery Writers Association’s Bouchercon, Sisters In Crime to name a few and has taught workshops in Feature Film Development, Film Festivals, Transmedia for Creative Producers, Pitching, Screenwriting, Acting for Screenwriters, Acting, and Musical Theatre around the world. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America, SAG/AFTRA, Actors’ Equity, Assistance League of Southern California, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, International Documentary Association, Film Independent and UFVA.

Ms. Edwards majored in theatre and has a strong background in performance, both acting and singing, in addition to directing live theatre and writing and producing film, television and Transmedia projects. More recently, she was a full-time assistant professor at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts’ Singapore campus where she taught Creative Producing and Development, Basic and Advanced Screenwriting, Producing Transmedia for Creative Producers, Producing for Television, Producing the Corporate Video, and Entertainment Marketing & Promotion in addition to film studies courses such as Feature Film Analysis and Survey of International Film. She has traveled throughout Asia attending film festivals and markets, and has worked with filmmakers in the region not only on creative content but also in advising them on the global media marketplace. For 4 years, she divided her time between her home in Los Angeles and in Singapore. More recently, she has taught Finance in Media for the University of Miami’s Semester in Los Angeles and for NYU’s Los Angeles campus, the business of screenwriting and The Biz for Columbia College Chicago's L.A. campus along with their Grad Program’s Long Form Narrative course, and Visual Storytelling, Creative Producing and Development, Filmmaking Fundamentals for Producers, Maneuvering Film Festivals and Basic Screenwriting Fundamentals and Thesis and AP Script Workshops at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

Gender:
Female

Badges

Credits

The Jewels of the Mughal Crown (2023 - 2024)
Film by Rona Edwards Productions/Toonz Media/Hemisphere Prods (Animation) Producer
Selling Sex (2015)
TV Movie by Meredith Ralston (Documentary, Drama and Biography) Producer Selling Sex is a fifty minute documentary about an online escort named Megan whose life's mission is to educate people about the value of sex work. With her down to earth attitude and open style, she befriends the filmmaker, an anti-prostitution activist, and takes her on a journey through the world of middle class sex work. Megan calls out our hypocrisy and prudishness about sex and shows how societal stigma and marginalizing sex workers harms all women.
Unforgettable (2010)
Film (Documentary) Producer Brad Williams is only the second person ever studied by neurologists for the newly-identified syndrome called "hyperthymesia", an extremely detailed form of autobiographical memory for events both global and personal, monumental and trivial. UNFORGETTABLE follows Brad's adventures as his rare mental gifts vault him from small-town anonymity to sudden mid-life notoriety. Written by Eric Williams
Hostile Makeover (2009)
TV Movie (Comedy, Crime and Mystery) Producer Street-smart, D.C. fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian is breaking news again when she interviews a supermodel who reveals that she's been receiving unfashionable death threats.
Killer Hair (2009)
TV Movie (Comedy, Crime, Drama and Mystery) Producer A fashion reporter stumbles on a murder investigation in the Nation's Capitol, only to be thrown for a loop when her police detective former lover is assigned to the case.
Blind Trust (2007)
TV Movie (Crime, Drama and Thriller) Producer A woman is convicted of killing her friend and boyfriend in the heat of passion even though she is defended by a top lawyer. She flees after the trial in order to learn who framed her.
Independent Lens (2006)
Television (Documentary) Miscellaneous Crew Different celebrity host present a new independent documentary.
Hope in Heaven (2005)
Film (Documentary) Producer Mila works at Heaven, a little bar on blowjob alley in Angeles City, the Philippines; once the site of the United States Clark Air Force Base, now one of the busiest and sleaziest sex tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. She lives in tremendous hope that someday, some foreigner will rescue her and take her to America. This heartfelt, poignant documentary sheds light on a difficult subject matter which is sensitively narrated by Kiefer Sutherland. Written by Anonymous
Out of Sync (2000)
TV Movie (Comedy, Drama and Music) Producer In the age of music videos, the success and marketing of the next sexy superstar has little to do with actual singing talent. Such is the case with Sunni, a young want-to-be superstar with an attitude, who's about to record her first album. Robert Deacon is a one-time high-flying producer, whose popularity has gone downhill, who thinks he can make it big again with this sex kitten. Despite Sunni's backing by a record company mogul, there's little Deacon can do to turn her tin ear into gold. While drowning his sorrows at a karaoke bar, he discovers Maggie Stanley, a young housewife who's more at home in the kitchen than behind a microphone. Maggie has an amazing voice and Deacon convinces her to lend her voice to what she believes is a demo tape. Maggie's voice is dubbed over Sunni's entire album. When the debut album rockets up the charts, not even the star singer is aware that her hit songs are the work of a suburban housewife. With the public clamoring for a live performance, the ... Written by Starlight Film Group
Der Mörder meiner Mutter (1999)
TV Movie (Thriller) Producer Add a Plot »
I Know What You Did (1998)
TV Movie (Drama and Thriller) Producer A female lawyer who specialises in defending suspected rapists is left traumatised after she herself is assaulted in her own home.
The Companion (1994)
TV Movie (Romance, Sci-Fi and Thriller) Producer In the near-distant future, a female romance writer is planning to write her next book in a remote mountain cabin. A friend convinces her to bring along a "companion", a nearly-human android to cook and clean. She settles on a male companion named "Geoffrey." Bored with some of Geoffrey's behavior, she tinkers with his programming -- first his personality, then his sexuality. Real trouble comes when she gives his mind access to "random data." Written by Ray Hamel <hamel@primate.wisc.edu>
One Special Victory (1991)
TV Movie (Drama and Sport) Producer Based on a true story, John Larroquette plays a hotshot executive that ends up in court over a certain charge. He is sentenced to community service. He is assigned to coach a basketball team of mentally handicap citizens. At first, he is reluctant and thinks selfishly of his own needs. Later on, he finds the real meaning of life which is helping others. Written by Pat McCurry <ccgrad97@aol.com>
Knots Landing (1986)
Television (Drama) Actress A popular night time soap opera, it followed the adventures of five families living in a coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California: Gary and Valene Ewing, relatives of the popular Ewing clan of Dallas; Sid and Karen Fairgate, their all-American neighbors; the troubled Richard and Laura Avery; young newlyweds Kenny and Ginger Ward; and divorcee Abby Cunningham, Sid's scheming sister. Written by Phil Fernando
Staying Alive (1983)
Film (Drama, Music and Romance) Actress In this sequel to Saturday Night Fever, former disco king Tony Manero has left Brooklyn and lives in Manhattan. He stays in a cheap hotel and works as a dance instructor and as a waiter at a dance club, trying to succeed as a professional dancer on Broadway. The breakaway from his Brooklyn life, family and friends seems to have matured Tony and refined his personality, represented by his diminished accent and his avoidance of alcohol and profanity. However, certain attitudes have not changed, as with his most recent girlfriend, who's also the singer of a local rock band. Written by Mark J. Popp <mjpopp@cwave.com>
King's Crossing (1982)
Television (Drama) Actress The trials and tribulations of a family in rural California.